


End Game

by scullywolf



Series: TXF: Scenes in Between [41]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, Introspection, MSR, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-22
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-04-16 14:00:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4627926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullywolf/pseuds/scullywolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Written for the txf-fic-chicks Post-Ep/Missing Scenes Challenge on Tumblr. :)</p>
        </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“Now, how do we find him?”  
“We don’t. He’ll find us.”_

He shook his head in frustration, opening the car door and sitting down heavily before slamming the door shut. He waited for her to join him in the car, then turned to face her.

“How? How will he find us?” Mulder demanded.

“He just will, just like how he found your partner,” the woman, Samantha (maybe Samantha) said steadily. “By now, he already knows where you live, knows your phone number. If we go back there and wait, he will contact you.”

“I should take you back to Dad’s.” He only half-meant it, which made him feel like an ass. If she really _was_ Samantha, he should be doing everything in his power to protect her. But Scully… 

“No! I told you, he’ll come for me no matter where I am. I’m safer with you, Fox. Besides, if you don’t have me, you’ll have nothing to bargain with. He won’t have any incentive to keep her alive.”

He studied her a moment before nodding and starting the car. “All right.”

Driving away from the trashed hotel room, without searching more thoroughly for evidence of where Scully might have been taken, felt _wrong_. He shouldn’t be driving back to his apartment to wait; he should be out there doing whatever it took to find her. He should be tracking this guy down, calling in the cavalry; the idea that sitting around was the best course of action went against every instinct he had.

“I know this is hard for you, Fox.” It was spooky how she seemed to know what he was thinking, like she really was his sister (but also like they hadn’t been separated for the past two decades). “But I’m sure that he won’t kill her, and that your best chance of getting her back really is to just let him come to you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

He drove the rest of the way in silence, stewing, thinking. It was impossible not to recall all of the other times Scully had been in danger. Duane Barry. Donnie Pfaster. Eugene Tooms. Far more often than he’d have liked, Mulder seemed to find himself trying desperately to locate his partner, to get her back after someone had taken her from him. She would be so much safer if she didn’t work with him, if she weren’t subjected to the monsters that were part and parcel of the X-Files.

Back at his apartment, his mind wouldn’t stop churning. It still felt wrong; everything he had been told so far about this case, by the people he thought he could trust, all of that had been a lie. How could he really know that this woman was who she claimed to be? Yes, she seemed to say all the right things and had an abduction story that was as textbook as you could get, but maybe that was precisely why it was setting off every alarm bell in his head. Why he couldn’t seem to settle, no matter how many times she tried to calm and reassure him.

Why he paced the floorboards of the apartment, unable to resign himself to sitting placidly and waiting for the damned phone to ring.  



	2. Bonus Drabble Series

_“He’s going to make it.”_  


I.

He crashes twice more before they finally get him anywhere close to stabilized. Hypothermia and the retrovirus have mounted a two-front attack; staying ahead of both threats is nearly impossible.

Nearly.

Every time the other doctor wants to throw in the towel, she is right there to push back, to demand another intervention. He’s well within his rights to file a complaint about her when all is said and done, but she couldn’t care less. She will _never_ stop fighting for Mulder. 

“We’ve got a stable sinus rhythm,” a nurse says at last.

Blowing out a weary breath, Scully nods. 

II.

“He’s going to make it” becomes a mantra, or maybe a prayer. Probably both.

Blood thinners and antiviral medications can only help so much; he needs at least one complete transfusion, possibly several. She wouldn’t hesitate to open her own veins for him if only their blood types matched. 

(He’s O-negative. If their circumstances were reversed, he could donate to her, but she can’t return the favor. It doesn’t seem fair.)

She watches the drip of the IV bag, listens to the steady wheeze and flow of the respirator. She can’t remember how long it’s been since she last slept.

III.

“I really didn’t think he would make it,” the doctor says, and Scully bites her tongue.

He flips through Mulder’s chart and shakes his head. “We got the cell cultures back on his bloodwork. The lab could not identify the viral agent your partner was exposed to. Its structure and function are unlike anything we have ever seen.”

She’s too tired to say, “I told you so,” and simply nods.

“When he does eventually wake up, he’ll have you to thank for it.” He addresses the clipboard, doesn’t meet her eyes. “He would absolutely have died if not for you.”

IV.

“I hear he’s going to make it after all,” Skinner says when he calls.

“Yes, sir. He’s responding well to the course of treatment, and he should be breathing on his own again within a day or so.”

“That’s good to hear. He’s got plenty to answer for.”

Scully has no difficulty imagining the scowl undoubtedly on his face right now. She also knows that despite his gruffness, their boss is just as glad as she is that Mulder’s going to be okay.

“Sir, as soon as he’s in any condition to provide those answers, I’ll be first in line.”

V.

He’s still not out of the woods, so to speak, but the day they take him off artificial ventilation, Scully breathes a sigh of relief; he’s made it.

She hasn’t slept more than a couple hours at a time since she got to Alaska, power naps on the doctors’ lounge sofa. After half a day of steady vitals, she’s finally willing to leave Mulder’s side long enough to sleep for real.

“Come wake me if there are _any_ changes to his condition, especially if he regains consciousness.” She repeats the instruction to three different staff members, just to be sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written for the txf-fic-chicks Post-Ep/Missing Scenes Challenge on Tumblr. :)


End file.
